Wal-arda wadaAAaha lil-anam (surah Rahman: 10)

Tafseer Tafheem-ul-Quran by Syed Abu-al-A'la Maududi

(55:10) And He *9 has set up the earth for all beings. *10

Wal arda wada`ahaa lilanaame

*9) Now from here to verse 20, mention is being made of the blessing and bounties of God and of those manifestations of His might by which both man and jinn are benefiting, and whose natural and moral demand is that although they have the option to believe or not to believe, they should adopt the way of their Lord's service and obedience willingly by their own free choice.
*10) The word wade ` in the original means to compost, make, prepare, keep. and inscribe, and anam the creatures, which includes man and all other living things. According to Ibn 'Abbas, anam includes every thing which has a soul. Mujahid takes it in the meaning of the living creatures. Qatadah, Ibn Zaid and Sha'bi say that all living things are anam. Hasan Basri says that both the men and the jinn are included in its meaning. The same meanings have been~given by the lexicographers. This shows that the people who deduce from this verse the command of making land the state property, are in error. This is an ugly attempt to introduce alien theories forcibly into the Qur'an which arc neither supported by the words of the verse nor by the context. Anam is not used only for human society but it includes aII other creatures of the earth as well, and setting of the earth for anam dces not mean that it should be the common property of aII. Besides, the context here also dces not indicate that the object of the verse is to state some economic principle. This, in fact, is meant to impress the truth that AIIah made and prepared this earth in such a way that it became a fit abode for every kind of living being. It has not become so by itself, but by the will and power of the Creator. He in His wisdom placed it at a suitable distance and created such conditions on it which made it possible for the different species to exist and stay alive on it. (For explanation, see E.N.'s 73, 74 of An-Naml, E.N.'s 29, 32 of Ya Sin, E.N.'s 90, 91 of Al-Mu'min, E.N.'s 11 to 13 of Ha Mim As-Sajdah, E.N.'s 7 to 10 of Az.Zukhruf, E.N. 7 of AI-Jathiyah).